Recent research suggests more than three-quarters of UK businesses either intend to implement a converged network in the near future or are already involved in rolling one out.

But according to the SAS Group many businesses struggle to implement networks effectively because they are not aware of what is involved and simply apply the same level of support that they previously used for data networks.

The organisation offers the following tips to ensure that those companies installing IP networks are able to do so and smoothly as possible:

Build support requirements into the business plan
To effectively manage and maintain IPT and UC systems, most businesses will need to invest in extra support, in terms of additional monitoring equipment and increased staffing requirements. This will have an impact on both the capital and operational costs of the project, so forecasting the business requirement is essential from an overhead point of view, as well as from the perspective of seamless and efficient service at all times.

Don't overlook staff training
A recent survey by the SAS Group revealed that 16% of businesses plan to use existing staff to support their converged solutions without providing any additional training. This will cause problems if it is assumed that the experience and knowledge of traditional data-focused helpdesk staff will be adequate for supporting voice. In addition, traditional helpdesks operate on a reactive basis which is not acceptable for business critical voice applications.

A further consideration is support hours, and while the nature of the business will dictate the individual firm's requirements, the critical status of voice applications will often mean that basic nine-to-five support is insufficient: IPT and UC must be allocated top priority.

Nominate an IPT and UC champion
Consider appointing an ‘IPT and UC champion'. This person would be freed from the concerns of frontline support and would take an enterprise-wide view of the system and its impact on the rest of the network. This expert could advise on trending and capacity planning, enforce policies and assess the potential impact of infrastructure changes, product upgrades and carrier developments, all of which will contribute to the smooth and seamless running of the system.

Monitor the whole voice path
Support for traditional data networks relies on monitoring tools to survey device availability and performance. However, when voice is added to the network, this approach falls down as it fails to take into account the performance of traffic flows between devices or the performance of each network segment on the voice path. By monitoring these elements as well as the devices themselves, support staff will be able to ensure performance and quality of service levels throughout, and quickly identify and respond to any faults.

Don't ignore carrier equipment
For businesses with more than one office, it is likely that the responsibility for managing and supporting certain parts of the converged network will lie outside the company's own physical environment and control, instead being held by the carrier and incorporated into a carrier-managed service agreement. The disadvantage of this type of agreement is that companies will generally have to wait between 10 to 20 working days for change requests to take effect; with business critical applications like voice, this is unacceptable.